Petra X Eren: Love in the Survey Corps
by leiflishman234
Summary: Eren has been adopted by the Survey Corps and this is his first mission outside the walls with the Levi squad. This is a story of how his feelings for Petra come to surface and what directions they will take him in.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

It was 10:25 PM and the Levi squad had just returned from their 4th patrol in 6 days, there were too many reports of titan activity in the area to just ignore, they were all exhausted. Levi, Petra, Eren and Oulo had sat down to eat their dinner, rice and beans as usual, not much can be distributed among the three regiments and the cadets, the occasional bit of bread was always a nice surprise though. Erd and Gunter were off tending to the horses before joining them five minutes later.

Eren was still nervous about being around the squad considering they were all higher ups and the fact he still couldn't believe he belonged to the scout regiment. Eren had recently been allowed to sleep outside his cell as it had been proved that he posed no threat to anyone inside the scout's old headquarters.

After dinner was finished everyone apart from Petra, Eren and Oulo left to go sleep as they were pretty much knocked out at dinner, after not even four minutes Oulo fell fast asleep on the table they were sat at, part of this was because of the amount of alcohol he had drunk at dinner to forget the day.

Petra and Eren moved to the table on the other side of the room because of this. as they sat down Petra was first to break the silence, excluding the sound of Oulo's loud and deep snoring echoing in the cobble room. "I don't know about you but I don't think I'm gonna sleep tonight after all this, knowing the captain, he will just ask us to patrol all day tomorrow as well" she said giving a huff sitting down opposite Eren "Neither, despite being out all day I'm surprisingly awake and sharp" he agreed.

Petra saw a screwed up ball of paper next to her, she picked it up discreetly and threw it surprisingly at Eren, to her delight, he fumbled and fell back off his chair onto the cold, merciless floor behind him with a loud bump. "hehe" Petra giggled "not as sharp as you think" she teased giving a yawn "maybe I will sleep tonight" she thought to herself.

Eren stood up and rubbed his rump tenderly "that wasn't nice" he said sheepishly as he was blushing from embarrassing himself by falling in front of a higher up.

On the other side of the room, Oulo was drifting in and out of sleep, eventually he picked himself up and carried himself away to his room, however he only made it 10 feet before passing out on the floor for good. Petra shook her head "remind me to never let that man drink again" she said to Eren, he nodded in acknowledgement, the time now was getting on to half 11 and Petra was pushing Eren for info on his personal life.

"I see you and that Mikasa are quite close?" she asked hoping she both struck an embarrassment nerve and got it right, again, to her pleasure, she did, Eren blushed heavily and spoke "yeah but it's not like that, I'm aware she likes me but i don't feel the same, for two reasons" Petra was completely interested, almost inflicted in the conversation "what are those reasons may i ask?" she asked not wanting to be rude, she would accept if Eren didn't want to say. "Firstly" Eren started, Petra was surprised he was actually going to tell "she is like family to me, I've never seen her as anything more than a sister to me" he explained quietly, sort of embarrassed but also a bit sad as he only just realised that he had been ignoring Mikasa's feelings all this time "and secondly, I'm into someone else".

Petra's eyes widened, she was completely infatuated with this conversation now "oh?" she asked plainly hoping he would go on, Petra crossed her legs under the table and had a neutral but somehow caring expression on her face, Eren was blushing heavily and seemed like he was stuttering, his hands were on top of each other on the table, Petra shot them a glance and she put her right hand on top of his.

Eren was startled by this as he wasn't expecting it and he also wasn't looking for "who?" Petra asked quietly but intrigued, Eren seemed reluctant to tell for some reason but finally spoke "I asked her for advice on this, Mikasa that is, I just have the fear of being rejected, as I'm not confident that a higher up like her would be interested in me".

Petra's heart stopped as he said this "is he talking about me?" she asked herself in her head over and over again in the space of a few seconds, Eren was now finally facing Petra but his eyes to the ground, he looked up suddenly and smiled "you, Petra" he said quietly, his face was deep red from saying this and he wasn't the only one, Petra was now blushing heavily, she stuttered but instead of saying anything, she kicked her chair back and stood up, she stared at Eren for a second with an expression that said something like "I'm sorry" then swiftly walked off out the door.

"Petra! wait!" Eren said standing up too but it was too late, Petra was gone. Eren sighed and carried himself off in the other direction to his room, everyone slept like a rock until 7:30 when breakfast was served, Levi had something important to talk about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"We're going out on patrol again" Levi said plainly while sipping at some herbal tea "intel shows us there are four titans heading this way, it's our job to take them out before they reach here" he explained.

Eren up until this point had his full attention on Levi but now he was looking at Petra, who didn't even shoot him a proper look, she gave a quick glance out of the corner of her eye before turning back to Levi, Eren sighed and did the same.

Half an hour later they headed outside to the stables, Eren was now permitted to ride anywhere in the pack, not just next to Levi so he could keep an eye on him. Petra was walking alone so he ran over, when he got next to her he spoke "Petra?" he asked softly, she didn't respond, just looked ahead and kept walking. Eren stopped and hung his head "why did I tell her?" he asked quietly to himself "everything was fine until I did".

Erd was now walking up to him, he put his hand on Eren's back and smiled "what's up?" he asked smiling down to Eren as they continued walking, "oh, nothing, I'm fine" Eren lied giving a pretty convincing fake smile, truth was he felt terrible, to be ignored and shunned by the girl he liked and admired. "It's just all these patrols, they're getting on top of me, that's all" Erd believed him and patted him on the back "you get used to it" he explained as he walked off to his horse, Eren did the same.

They saddled up and set off out of the old HQ's courtyard, after a while of riding in the direction they were meant to be going, they came across a small, abandoned village, there were a lot of these between wall Maria and wall Rose. The formation went Levi at the front with Oulo riding close behind on his right, a bit further back on Oulo's left were Gunter and Erd riding side by side like they always did and behind them were Eren and Petra but Petra was riding as far behind Eren as possible.

As they emerged out the town one by one, Eren noticed something in his peripheral vision but ignored it, it didn't look like anything interesting, but as Petra moved out of the dead village, a giant hand swiped for her horse and made contact, the head of a titan emerged from over the top of the last building, Petra was thrown forward from her horse with great force, as she crashed, her ODM gear broke, the gas chambers broke off and the holsters came from the main chassis of the gear, as this was all happening none of the others knew until they heard the ear piercing scream of Petra as she was left helpless in a titan's reach.

Everyone turned and Eren's heart stopped, he swung his horse around and yelled to her "PETRA!" it took longer for the others to swing their horses around for some reason, they didn't want to behave. Eren was riding at full speed, closing in on the titan, he jumped into the air and fired his ropes into the titan's arm as it was reaching for the petrified Petra, tears in her eyes and screaming.

"You bastard! Don't you dare hurt her!" Eren yelled as he swung around the titan's arm, having achieved his full attention, he landed on his neck and sunk his swords deep inside it's nape, the titan screamed and fell to the ground next to Petra, dead. The rest of the Levi squad were here now and Eren had jumped down from the carcass of the titan to check Petra, she was quaking in fear as everyone crowded but also kept some distance to make her feel safe, not threatened.

"Shit" Levi muttered "Gunter! Escort Eren and Petra back to HQ, the rest of you, follow me" he said giving orders as he hopped back on his horse, Erd and Oulo jumped on theirs and rode off with Levi.

Eren got on his, unfortunately, Petra was in no fit state to ride a horse and her horse had been killed in the impact of the titan, so Gunter put her on the back of Eren's horse, she instantly put her arms round Eren's stomach and held on tight, her eyes wide with fear as they rode back off to the HQ.

That evening after Erd, Oulo and Levi had returned safely, they had dinner, everyone excluding Petra who was resting in her room, still in shock, you would think a higher up would get used to it but no, no one ever gets used to the horrors of the titans.

Commander Erwin and Zoe Hange had stopped by to see if everything was ok, Levi and the others were able to take out the remaining titans and Levi even praised Eren to Commander Erwin about his quick actions to save Petra, they tried to go see her but she was asleep so they left her, after dinner, they all cleared up and headed off to sleep.

Eren tossed and turned for hours and hours but couldn't sleep, about half past 4 in the morning, the door to Eren's bedroom creaked open, he sat up and could make out a silhouette of a girl standing in the doorway, it spoke softly and quietly, he instantly recognised it as Petra's voice "Eren, are you awake?" she asked, Eren reached for the lamp and light it, the room slowly warmed up but instantly glowed.

Petra walked in and closed the door as Eren sat up, he was in his green long sleeved shirt he used to wear in his cadet days but was wearing nothing on his legs but his grey pants, Petra was wearing a long sleeved, white dress shirt way too big for her and what looked like fabric bottoms.

She slowly walked over to Eren and sat at the end of the bed "you saved me" she said plainly, skipping straight to the reason of why she was here, she was looking at the floor at the moment but when she raised her head to look at Eren, he could see she was trying her hardest not to cry, her eyes tearing up, she leapt onto Eren, swinging her arms around him and lose control, she burst into tears "thank you, all i could think about while that titan was reaching for me is how cruel I was to you yesterday and the night before".

Eren was surprised but he just sat there listening "that was wrong of me, it's just, no one has ever said anything like that before…" there was a long pause before her next words "i owe you my life". Eren was kind of taken back, he put his arms around Petra as she sobbed into his shirt "if we ever get time off work" Eren began "I'd like to take you on a date, if there is anywhere we could even go" he said quietly, Petra nodded in his arms "anywhere with you would be wonderful" she said quietly and sweetly as she started to stop crying.

After about ten minutes of holding each other, Petra broke the silence "do you think, that i could stay with you, till morning?" she asked looking up and rubbing her eyes, Eren didn't want to get into trouble but he didn't want Petra to be alone, they all had double beds so there was enough room, he nodded and smiled as Petra clambered in next to him, Eren turned off the lamp and they both fell asleep as the room slowly cooled, until morning when they were woken by light shining in through the window, and a knocking on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

"Eren! Wake up" Levi called from the other side of the door, the handle was turning as Levi was about to enter "don't come in yet!" Eren yelled as he sat up in the bed, Petra did too, they looked at each other as they formulated a plan.

Levi was stood on the other side of the door for a minute or so as Petra was trying to squeeze under the bed, when she was under the bed and was no way visible to Levi, Eren allowed him in.

Levi stepped in already in his uniform, minus the coat "we're cleaning today, also, have you seen Petra?" he asked closing the door, Eren was sat up in his long sleeved green top and Petra was being sandwiched between the cold floor and the bed, breathing heavily but silently.

Eren gulped and spoke "umm, no, i don't know where she is, is she gone?" Eren asked "yeah, she might just be downstairs, I'll go check, get dressed" Levi said before leaving and closing the door behind him. Eren got out of bed and knelt down to help Petra out "thank you" she said happily as she stood up smiling at him.

"You should probably go get changed" Eren said smiling at her, Petra nodded in agreement and left Eren's room but before she did she stretched up onto her toes and kissed Eren softly on the cheek, she smiled and blushed before striding happily out the room, Eren was blushing heavily too but smiling.

Eren got dressed and met everyone downstairs in the main hall, Levi was talking to Petra, she was explaining 'where she was this morning', she spotted Eren and smiled, he smiled back but then Erd walked in front of him, obstructing his view, handing him a bucket of water and a mop "top floor is your duty" he said.

Eren took the bucket and mop, the bucket was really heavy but he managed to drag it up to the top floor of the building, it wasn't a very big space but it would still take well over 2 hours to clean the entire floor. Eren thought it logical to start in the furthest corner away from the stairs and worked his way back. After about 2 and a half hours the whole of the top floor was done, Eren had had to go replace the water about 3 times as the rooms floors were so dirty and dusty, he returned downstairs and washed out the bucket and mop a final time before returning them to the cupboard on the second floor.

The time now was 11:42 and almost everyone was still working so Eren grabbed a cloth and some water spray and went to clean the tables in the main hall however, someone had already beaten him there, Petra. Eren smiled and joined Petra in cleaning the main hall's tables, she had only done around half the tables after cleaning up all the cupboards on the first floor, Petra appreciated Eren's help and while he was cleaning a table near her, she went over to talk to him.

"That was close this morning" she said giving a small but cute smiled, Eren turned to look at her as he was wiping down the table and nodded "yeah, it was, we were lucky" he said quietly just in case Levi was listening. Eren had reached the end of the table but because he wasn't looking his hand slipped off and he began to fall over, Petra grabbed his stretched out arm as he fell and pulled him back up.

Eren was pulled back up into a position where they were stood extremely close together, they both blushed and stuttered to each other.

"What's going on in here then?" a voice from the entrance of the main hall asked, the sudden appearance of a new voice startled both of them and they froze, luckily, to their surprise it was just Gunter, Petra turned her head first and breathed a sigh of relief seeing it was only her friendly colleague.

"Hi Gunter" she said stepping away from Eren "umm, it's not what it looks like" she was afraid Gunter had the wrong idea but he shook his head and smiled "don't worry, I saw what happened, good reflexes, also it's nice to see you're better" he said calmly and happily before walking away from the door to carry on with his cleaning.

Petra and Eren both breathed a sigh of relief "I think we should keep this a secret for a bit" Eren suggested, Petra nodded in agreement but then spoke of Levi "the captain is an understanding man but I don't think he should know yet" she said looking up at Eren, holding onto the cloth she had in her hands tightly for some reason, after talking for a minute they returned to work and got the remaining half of the tables done much faster than they thought, after they dried the time was now almost half 12.

Oulo was in the kitchen cooking, even though he wasn't brilliant at it, all they had was soup and buttered bread but after all the work they had been doing, anything would taste nice to them.

They sat down to have Lunch and after they finished, they went back to cleaning until sunset, they would only remain in this building for another week and a half, after that, they would return to the Survey Corps accommodation inside wall Rose.

Petra and Eren could be a little bit more secretive about how they felt about each other there, because they were both part of the Levi squad, they had better accommodation than other members of the scouts but all that meant was they had a bit better food and the toilet was attached to their rooms instead of outside or down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

A week and a half later the Levi squad saddled up and planned their route back to the safety of wall Rose, over the past week Petra had been waiting for everyone to sleep then she would sneak into Eren's room and sleep there, with him, she felt safer this way for some reason, and she would wake up early and leave to go back to her room, so it wouldn't look like she was gone to anyone who went into her room.

Naturally going into the other sex's room wasn't permitted but they didn't care.

As they rode back to wall Rose they came across a few titans but managed to successfully avoid all of them, they wanted to stay out of as much conflict as they could, once wall Rose was in sight, they could relax a little bit.

They entered wall Rose and were greeted by other members of the scouts and just general members of the public, it was like they were being treated like war heroes, I guess in a sense, they were but they hadn't really done that much titan fighting, their mission was to eliminate the titans heading for the wall, the ones they encountered on the way back were walking away from the wall so there was no reason to engage them.

They took a small walk from the stables to the scouts accommodation but they couldn't be comfortable for long, Commander Smith had ordered the Levi squad and 2 other squads to conduct a recon mission from the Karanese district, exactly the same as what they had been doing, except bigger titan activity, which is why 2 other squads were going with them.

They stayed a few days, in which Petra and Eren spent entirely together in each other's rooms, they hid when Levi checked in, they planned on telling Levi after they returned from this mission, later that night, the Commander called a meeting with Levi's and Hange's squads.

"It is to my regret that I must inform you that captain Levi is unable to accompany you on this mission" Erwin told them. Eren was more than shocked that the captain would not be accompanying them on a reconnaissance mission, this had never happened before.

"Instead, Section Commander Hange will be in charge of this mission".

Erwin talked on for around half an hour about where they were going, they were to leave the Karanese district under the cover of night when the titans are unable to move and they would ride towards an armoured outpost between Karanese and Trost district, there they would stay and their job was to eliminate any threat opposing the wall.

They returned to their rooms that night in the Survey Corps accommodation space to rest. Eren went back to his room alone and Petra went back to hers as usual, once midnight fell, Petra made her way to Eren's room.

She knocked on the door lightly "Eren, are you still awake?" she whispered through the door. Eren was awake, wide awake. He got out of bed and walked over to the door, opening it silently allowing Petra to step in.

Petra hugged Eren as she usually did but it felt different to Eren. "What's wrong?" Eren asked her, he knew something was up.

Petra sighed while still holding onto Eren "It's just…" she paused before continuing "we've never been on a mission where the captain hasn't been there. I know Hange and she is an amazing fighter but, I don't know. I guess I just don't feel as safe knowing that the captain is staying here" Petra buried her face into Eren's shoulder.

Eren responded by tightening his grasp on Petra, pulling her closer.

He kept one hand round her back and placed his other hand gently on the back of her head, he stroked her hair softly. "Hey, it's ok" Eren began "we'll be ok, there is more of us and Hange is more than qualified to lead this sort of mission. Plus I'm going to protect you no matter what, I'm strong, I know I am, and I know you're going to be safe".

Petra pushed her head against Eren's hand so she could look at him, Eren proceeded to place his hand back on Petra's back, she smiled up to him "I know, thank you" she said.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours to them but what was realistically only a few seconds, lost in each other's gaze. Up until now the two had only spent the nights together in solitude and Petra had only placed kisses upon Eren's cheek and forehead.

Eren closed his eyes as he began to lean in, Petra went bright red and hesitated for a second, but then embraced what was happening and followed, her eyes closed and head leant towards Eren's.

There was a second of silence before their lips collided, Petra tilted her head and gave an angle as Eren lead the two in their first proper kiss, still in each other's embrace they stood just behind the door as they shared each other's first time.

After a few seconds Eren pulled away and slowly opened his eyes to see Petra still with her eyes closed and lips puckered but smiling and blushing, her face had turned bright red, a few seconds later she opened her eyes and their loving gaze met again.

Eren started to go bright red too once he heard what Petra had to say, "your lips are so soft" she said quietly and then let out a small giggle.

Petra then leant in this time to try and go for another, this time there was less anticipation between the two and they went straight in only this time during the kiss, Petra opened her mouth a small bit and Eren did the same, they spent the next 30 seconds or so sharing a passionate kiss before Eren pulled away.

"Come on, let's get some rest" he said while blushing and smiling. Petra nodded and they both made their way off to Eren's bed.

As they got in, the warmth of the duvet hit the both of them, Petra cuddled up closely to Eren and fell almost instantly asleep, Eren remained awake for some time.

Petra had her arms wrapped around Eren's body (she was on his left) and had lifted her leg slightly onto him, her breathing was slow and her mouth hung open a tiny bit, her head was resting gently on Eren's shoulder and she seemed to be staring up at him in her sleep. Eren laid there just watching her sleep peacefully for what turned into an hour and a half before he finally became tired and nodded off himself.

Morning came by quicker than a bullet and as the sun began to peer its way through the curtains at around 7:00, Petra was the first to wake up out of the two. Her arm was stuck underneath Eren's body so she had to lie there helplessly for around half an hour before Eren began to wake up.

"Hehe, morning" Petra whispered quietly to Eren as he opened one eye to look at her. Eren smiled a gentle smile and yawned "morning" he whispered back. It was nice for Eren to see the cute and innocent side of his higher up who he once saw as strict and closed.

The two again lost each other in their gazes and only when Petra sighed did the silence break. "I don't want to leave here" she said softly "I wish we could just stay here, like right here, forever".

Eren sighed and smiled "God i wish we could, that would be amazing. But we can't…" his smile faded a little bit and he faced his head forward towards the far wall, he also sat up releasing Petra's arm. Petra looked up at him for a minute then sat up with him "hey" she said putting her hand on his chin and turning his face towards her.

As Eren's head turned Petra closed her eyes and leant in to kiss him, Eren smiled and met her halfway. Their lips once again reunited with each other in a moment of passion. With mouths open slightly again, Petra tried something different to the two of them, her tongue slowly made its way into play, not much as she herself wasn't too sure what she was doing but Eren's response was well given, his tongue too found its way into the kiss and they intertwined as they sat up in bed.

Eren pulled away first and looked to Petra who was blushing hard. "H-How was that?" she asked quietly in anticipation her face bright red as she switched from looking at Eren, to the bed then back to Eren. Eren blushed too "u-ummm, it was… it was good" Eren replied turning redder than Petra was. Petra smiled "good" she said simply, it was almost quarter to eight now and everyone else would be getting up for the day soon enough.

Petra sighed deeply "I need to get up and go now" she said solemnly as she pulled the covers back to reveal her nightwear of a long white dress shirt and shorts and she got up and walked round to the other side of the bed.

Petra leant down to Eren with her arms behind her back and her hands holding each other, she gave Eren a small peck on the cheek "I'll see you later" she said giving a cute smile before leaving the room. Eren sat in bed watching her leave the room, once the door closed he sunk back down into the bed and smiled the biggest smile he had ever smiled before, his cheeks flushed and his heart racing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Eren got up and started to get himself ready, he cleaned himself up and put on his Survey Corps uniform, he was ready to leave his room for breakfast at just after 8. He picked himself up off his bed and headed for the door placing his hand on the cold, metal handle and giving it a turn.

The door swung open and stood outside was Commander Erwin with his arm stretched out as if he was about to knock on the door, Eren was surprised to say the least.

"Ah Eren, you're up? Well, good. Is it possible if i could have a moment of your time to talk to you?" the commander was usually very polite to others, even people of lower ranks such as the cadets. Eren was still sort of surprised and he looked to the commander who was wearing a stern looking face "u-uh, yeah, sure" he said making way for Erwin to walk into his room but the commander raised his hand as if to tell him to stop "it's fine, we can talk out here" he said reassuringly.

Eren found this slightly weirder now but he closed his door behind him and stood with Erwin in the hall. "I'm sorry that neither me of Levi are able to be apart of this mission, but we can assure you that you will be safe under Hange's command" Erwin iterated to Eren, he seemed to actually be worried about him "How are you feeling after the last mission? Saving Petra like that with no regard for your own life was pretty heroic" he said crossing his arms and a smile creeping onto his face.

Eren blushed a tad but it was hardly noticeable "T-thank you sir" he stuttered "I'm feeling ok and Petra seems to be doing ok as well after that scare".

"Do you think you'll be able to control your power?" Erwin asked, this was a quick change of pace of the conversation, his smile dropped and his face went back to serious. Eren looked down at his feet for a second before looking back to Erwin, his face now serious too.

Eren made a salute "yes sir I do!" he stated confidently keeping his salute. Erwin chuckled a small bit "there is no need for that, it's just a casual conversation between colleagues" Eren released his salute and formed a normal and relaxed pose now.

"If things get hairy out there one day, they might need you to transform and I need assurance that you're not going to try and pull something like you did in Trost".

Eren was about to open his mouth and correct Erwin saying it wasn't his fault that he lost control but instead he stayed quiet for a second before speaking "no sir, that will not happen again, I assure you". Erwin nodded "good, now go and get your breakfast, you will need to build up your strength for today" he finished off with a salute and Eren saluted back.

Erwin turned and walked off to the left away from the hall where they would be eating, Eren turned and walked in the opposite direction, he forgot that he had left his father's key visible so on his way he tucked it into his shirt then walked swiftly down to the main hall for breakfast.

Eren walked into the hall, it was a change from the cruel stone walls of the Scouts' ex headquarters, this was a wooden room light by the daylight and not torches all over the wall, it was much warmer too, so warm that Eren had to take his jacket off. Hange was sat on the far table with a few members from her squad talking over tactics. Gunter and Erd were sat together as usual at one end of the table and Oulo was sat on the other end on the same side as Erd. Petra was not in the room yet, Eren could only assume she was still getting ready.

Eren grabbed himself some food and sat down between Oulo and Erd to eat.

Eren finished his food and looked around, Petra was still not in the room, now he was getting worried. Erd noticed Eren's attentiveness and spoke up. "Eren? What's wrong?" he asked, Eren wasn't paying much attention and unintentionally said "Petra isn't here"

"Yeah she isn't, hmmm. Why are you specifically looking for her?" Erd asked with a bit of suspicion in his voice, at this point Eren snapped back into it and realised what he had said "Uh. Umm… I mean like she is always up before most of us, she's so organised I'm just surprised she isn't here already" Eren sighed a little hoping he saved his slip up.

"Huh, I guess you're right, now that i think about it, it is weird that she isn't here yet" Erd replied looking back down at his own food, Eren let out a long breath in relief then got up to dispose of his bowl and cutlery, as he was walking back to his seat, Petra walked in through the door. She had a massive smile across her face, "morning everybody!" she exclaimed happily. Eren and the others were sort of taken back by this as she walked over and plonked herself down in front of Eren and next to Gunter.

Before anyone had a proper chance to speak, Hange came and joined the table sat opposite Oulo and next to Petra. "Morning everyone, as you know we ride out after sunset which means you have a pretty much free day until tonight" she explained. "Why did you make us get up so early then?" Oulo asked looking to Hange, as the two engaged in conversation Eren watched as they argued slightly.

Suddenly Eren felt a quick pain in his leg, he had been kicked, instead of looking down he caught Petra's glance in the corner of his eye, he looked over to her, she was still facing Hange but her eyes were directed at Eren, she giggled subtly then focused her attention back onto Hange.

"As I was saying before i was rudely interrupted" Hange continued as she shot Oulo an evil glance "you're free to wander around Karanese and we will meet back here shortly after 6, of course the building is open all day if you want to catch up on some sleep or just relax for once" Hange stood up and left followed by Oulo who wandered after her still banging on about why she had to have them get up so early if they were just going to have a day off.

Gunter and Erd were the next to get up about 30 seconds later and they said they were heading off into the district and would be back later on. Once they left Eren looked to Petra "that hurt you know" he moaned as he rubbed his leg where Petra had kicked him. "I'm sorry, you just looked bored out of your brains so I thought I'd catch your attention" she said cutely.

By now the members of the other squads had left the room also and it was just the two of them left. "What do you want to do then?" Petra asked, the two of them spent a few minutes deciding what they would do, they eventually decided to go and walk around the market for a while and see where the day took them.

It was a warm day outside but there was a breeze in the air which caused Eren to put his jacket back on, him and Petra wandered around for awhile, eventually they got a bit tired and sat down next to a small fountain they found near the marketplace and just watched the people go about their daily life.

The people of Karanese seemed to look relatively happy, kids were running in the street and playing, families were wandering about. Petra shuffled closer to Eren and she wrapped her arms around his left arm gently and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What if we get caught?" Eren asked quietly

"I don't care" Petra responded

"Really?"

"No. I just want to be with you and i don't care who knows" she looked up at Eren, her eyes wide with a half smile which then turned into a full smile "we don't have anything to worry about" Petra assured him.

The two wandered back into the market after sitting down for around ten minutes, they poked around stalls for a little while and then a bakery stall caught Petra's eye. "Wait here a minute" she said running off to it, while she was gone, Eren had a look around the stalls that were around him, just as he was finishing up a purchase Petra came running back with some food in her hands.

Eren turned around and Petra handed him a pastry bun "here, eat" she said as they walked off. By the time they decided to head back to their accommodation it was almost 2 o'clock, when they got back the place was deserted, no one was in, they were all obviously out enjoying the sun on their day off.

"Looks like we're alone" Petra said as they walked in, she sounded kind of sad when she said that, she then turned around to Eren "do you find it quite exhilarating hiding this from others?" she asked with a glint of mischief in her eye. Eren smiled "it's fun but if we get caught then were both in trouble, we need to tell the captain when we return" he insisted, Petra nodded in agreement and they walked off back to her room together.

Petra opened the door and they walked in, Eren was not prepared for what he was about to see. "Sorry it's a bit messy" she said calmly, everything was strewn everywhere, the bed was unmade, clothes hanging off of it, somehow she didn't seem to mind Eren being there as her underwear was lying on the bed, she was obviously very comfortable around him.

"I'm glad the captain doesn't come into my room to wake me, I fear that he might have a heart attack" she laughed and so did Eren, he didn't mind "it's just a bit of a surprise, I didn't expect this, not to say it's a bad thing". Petra smiled at his acceptance, she walked over to the bed and swiped everything off, proceeded to take off her coat and drop it then she sat on the bed to take her boots off. Eren watched then took off his coat and hung it on the back of the chair Petra had in her room, he then also sat down on the bed to take off his boots.

Petra was now laying on the bed and a few seconds later Eren joined her, they cuddled up together and talked and talked for what seemed like forever, after a while Eren sat up "oh, I almost forgot" he said delving deep into his left trouser pocket, Petra sat up on his right hand side and looked at him with a look of puzzlement.

Out of his pocket Eren revealed a necklace with a deep blue gemstone in the middle and a silver chain, around the gemstone was silver designed in the shape of a reef of leaves, he handed it to her. "I bought this earlier while you were getting food for us" Petra examined the necklace with a great smile on her face, "oh Eren, I love it!" she said happily as she fixed it round her neck and it dangled down on her shirt.

Suddenly, Petra leapt from her seated position and onto Eren, the resulting force caused them both to fall off the bed and onto the floor, luckily, there was a pile of Petra's clothes and a bedsheet between them and the hardwood floor to break their fall, Eren landed on his back and Petra landed on top, she giggled happily as she buried her face in Eren's chest "Thank you!" she exclaimed happily. Eren put his hand on the back of Petra's head and stroked her hair gently "it's ok, I saw it and I knew it would look beautiful on you, I couldn't resist".

The two of them stood up and retreated back to the bed where they laid cuddling and talking for the remaining time they had left, as 6 o'clock crept up on them, the two put their boots and jackets back on and headed down to the main hall for briefing, this time, hand in hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

A few hallways before the main hall Petra and Eren released each other from their connection and walked normally the rest of the way to the hall. A few moments later they arrived at the main hall, they didn't appear to be the last there as Erd, Gunter and some of the members from Hange's squads were still absent.

Petra and Eren walked over to the table nearest to the blackboard that was set up ready for Hange to explain what was going to happen. also where Oulo had perched himself, the two sat down and joined him in light conversation till the others arrived at which point Hange stood up and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"We are going to leave through the gate as soon as it gets dark so we have the best chance of avoiding conflict with the titans, we will ride to the base which is located around about halfway between Karanese and Trost" Hange went on to explain all the necessary details about what the next few weeks would consist of, patrols, patrols and more patrols.

"We will leave in a triangular formation, Levi squad, you will be lead by Petra as she is second in command to Levi" Hange announced "I will ride just behind the Levi squad between my two squads" she then added. After 30 minutes or so Hange was finished explaining and told everyone to get ready and saddle up for quarter past 7.

The time came around and Eren and Petra had split up after the briefing to do their own thing, the squads met at the stables and led their horses to the main gate. Members of the public gathered around in the dimming light to watch the Scouts in awe as they left the safety of the Karanese district and out into the titan infested area as soon as darkness hit.

As they rode out Hange lead the line but after a few minutes she called everyone into formation and she dropped back between her squads like she said and Petra took up the role at the front. Very few titans were still roaming and they managed to avoid conflict and eventually they arrived at the base.

It was a large building surrounded by a large wall designed to keep most titans out, the building looked like it could house at least 4 or 5 squads so they should be relatively comfortable with enough room.

Once inside the wall they put the horses inside the stable they had outside and they made their way inside, everyone instantly went and found a room, the building had 4 floors and there was a lot of spare rooms left. Eren housed himself on the top floor and Petra took the room next to him (this made it easier for her to sneak between the two). Also on that floor was 2 members from one of Hange's squads.

Everyone went to sleep and Petra snuck into Eren's room as usual, she was wearing her standard night outfit of white shorts and dress shirt that was far too big for her but hanging from her neck was the beautiful necklace Eren had bought her earlier in the day. She slept with it on with her arms wrapped tightly around Eren, despite having the day off they were both shattered so it didn't take long for the both of them to fall asleep.

The night passed quickly and they were in the main hall of the building early the next morning, breakfast was being served and Hange stood up to inform everyone that massive titan activity had occurred heading towards the base and they were going out on patrol to try and reduce the threat at least.

Before long, everyone found themselves outside in the courtyard saddling up and preparing to move out.

The 3 squads of Survey Corps members left through the gate and were instantly greeted by two 5 meter titans, Eren was about to leap from his saddle to deal with them but members from Hange's squads beat him to it and took them down no problem, as they rode on the titan activity greatened, it was a huge risk on their lives being deployed in such an area as it was rich with titans.

Soon enough they came across the horde of titans they had been looking for, it was massive, at least 20 of them ranging from 5 meters to 12 meters. At this point Hange took charge.

"Each squad disperse into two groups, split up and try to take out as many as you can!" Hange yelled, her squads split into 2 and she herself joined the Levi squad. Oulo, Eren and Hange in one group, Erd, Gunter and Petra in the other. They left their horses and began to use their ODM gear.

This order from Hange proved to be a bad idea.

Not too long after the order was given, some 12 meter titans got the jump on some of Hange's members while they were focused on a few 7 meters. Their screams and cries for help echoed throughout the open field and could probably be heard for miles, soon after again, the rest of the squad fell to an abnormal hiding amongst the others. So far the Scouts had killed a total of 5 titans but had lost 8 members…

Again, the two groups of the Levi squad were doing well but more from Hange's second squad had fallen, now Hange was starting to panic a small bit which was unlike her, she rode up alongside Eren and spoke.

"Eren, Erwin said you can control it. You know i wouldn't ask if we didn't need it as the risk is still way too high but we cannot lose anymore men! You need to transform, Now!" she shouted over the sounds of screams from the other side of the titan horde

Eren felt extremely conflicted, truth be told, he didn't know if he could control his ability however he didn't have much of a choice. He turned his horse to face one of the 12 metre titans and rode full force towards it, the ropes from his ODM gear sprung into action and he was propelled forwards towards the monster in front of him, a sudden flash of a green and yellow light confirmed that he was in fact shifting.

A loud roar was emitted seconds later from this light as Eren's titan form flattened the titan he was riding towards, stamping on the back of its neck as hard at he could. The other titans stopped and looked for a second before attempting to swarm Eren.

"Scouts! Retreat to a safe distance!" Hange shouted. As everyone retreated to Hange's position, Petra rode up next to her.

"We can't just leave him!" she screamed

"Yes we can" Hange said calmly

"He'll die without help!"

"No, he won't. Look."

Petra looked in Eren's direction and he was going absolutely berserk on anything that got near him, his ear piercing cry rang through their ears and caused them all to cover them. Titan after titan fell to the ground as Eren bit through their napes and in some cases, ripped them off with his bare hands.

Eyeing him up however was the abnormal from earlier, it was on all fours and looked ready to pounce on him. Titan Eren only just saw this and made a snap decision, he ran straight at it and punted it.

The abnormal's head went flying across the open field and its body fell to the floor, unfortunately, it had inflicted damage to Eren, his right foot was now severely burnt and wasn't functional. Eren fell to one knee.

There were 7 titans remaining and 11 Scouts left (excluding Eren) and the titans now began to swarm the injured Eren.

"We can't leave him! He's going to die if we don't do something!" Petra shrieked with tears now welling up in her eyes as she faced Hange.

"The situation has escalated" Hange responded simply before turning to the remaining members behind her "draw as many as you can away from Eren" she said to the remaining members of her squad before turning to the Levi squad "we will make a direct attack on the closer ones" she added before spurring her horse and rode forward.

Petra followed close behind right into the heart of the battle along with Erd, Gunter and Oulo, the remaining members of the squads split into two and rode round the sides to try and draw the titans away, however their time was running out as one of the remaining titans had now got a hold of Eren and was attempting to go for his neck.

Petra saw this and her eyes widened as she overtook Hange on her horse. The ropes from her new ODM gear shot out and landed in the back of the titan that was harassing Eren and she was torpedoed forward.

"NOT TODAY YOU BASTARD!" Petra screamed at the top of her lungs and she lunged forward and sunk her now drawn blades straight into the nape of its neck. The titan fell down to the floor with a tremendous thump, this caused Petra to lose her balance and fall to the floor, when she looked up there was another titan looming over her.

The titan lunged for Petra and she closed her eyes in fear as tears were swept away from her eyes by the breeze, darkness then enveloped Petra followed by an almighty roar.

Petra opened her eyes to be greeted by complete darkness, the noise of ODM gear attaching itself to something outside and zooming past was heard first, then another massive thump. She was scared, she didn't know where she was or what had happened, a second later, the light broke through as Eren sat up and revealed to have been covering Petra with his body, the titan that attacked her was now lying dead on the floor but not before it had managed to do some major damage to Eren's left arm.

Petra sat there in fear and shock as she stared Eren down in his titan form, he did not attack her but simply sat there watching her. The titans had now all been cleared up but more over the horizon could be spotted. Suddenly Eren tried to stand up but his leg failed him and he fell flat on his face no longer moving.

"No…" Petra squeaked quietly to herself as more tears filled her eyes.

"Cut him out, quickly!" Hange's voice echoed and Petra saw Erd and Gunter run over to Eren's nape and begin to cut into it, a few seconds later they dragged Eren's body out, his right foot and left arm completely gone. Petra watched speechless but was picked up by Oulo and she snapped out of it for a second.

"He'll be fine, that bastard is tougher than he looks" he began "come on, we need to get back before more turn up".

Petra nodded and made her way back to her horse, she saw Erd pull Eren onto his horse with him, his eyes were closed tight but he appeared to be breathing, she tried to calm herself as best she could and composed herself as they rode back to the base encountering no titans whatsoever. They got in and Eren was taken to his room.

Eren was completely unconscious so Petra spent the night in her room alone and crying to herself holding tightly onto the necklace which she had now taken off and was holding on her left hand. "Please be ok, please…" she sobbed softly before shortly falling asleep, her pillow soaked in tears.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The morning came around and Petra woke up extremely early, the time was 5:47, she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, they were red from where she had been crying so much. The necklace Eren had given her was still in her hand and it was warm from where she had been clasping it tightly throughout the night.

Petra got herself up and changed into her uniform, she searched around her room for a few minutes as if she was looking for something, fixed the necklace around her neck and then left. As she stepped outside she saw that Erd was sat outside Eren's room, she was surprised to see him awake and to be sitting there.

Erd caught sight of Petra and turned his head to talk to her. "Morning" he said plainly but cheerfully.

Petra walked over to him and gave a small smile, she sniffed and then spoke. "Morning Erd" she replied

"Are you alright? Still recovering from yesterday?"

"I guess"

There was a few moments of awkward silence before Petra spoke up again "How is he?" she asked quietly as she crossed her feet and looked to the floor

"I'm not sure, no one has been in" Erd replied.

Petra looked up slowly "I need to see him" she told Erd.

"I've been given strict orders not to let anyone through"

"Please Erd" desperation presented itself on Petra's face as tears began to well up in her eyes again and she raised her voice slightly.

"I can't, I'll be in serious trouble if I do"

"Please!" Petra's voice squeaked over the sound of her quiet crying as she stared Erd down with sorrow.

"He means that much to you then?" Erd asked and Petra simply replied with a nod. Erd sighed and stood up, he moved aside and opened the door "Be quick, I don't want either of us to get into any trouble"

"Thank you" Petra replied as she walked into the room and the door closed behind her and made no noise, at this second there was a corner of a wall blocking her view of Eren fully, she could see his legs underneath the sheet he had over him.

Petra moved forward slowly and her boots made noise against the hardwood floor, she appeared from behind the wall to see Eren was awake with a blank expression on his face looking straight forward. Petra's heart leapt to see he was awake and relatively ok. "You're awake!" she said excitedly, no response.

Petra was taken back slightly and approached the bed slowly. "Eren?" she asked softly. Eren turned his head slowly to face Petra, as if he had just popped out of a trance. "Oh, hey Petra" he said but still keeping his blank expression.

Petra practically jumped onto him and began sobbing into his shoulder "Thank God you're alive! I thought I had lost you when I saw you being cut out of that body" she said in a quiet voice muffled by her tears and Eren's shirt.

"How can you love me?" Eren replied bluntly, Petra raised her head and took herself off of Eren.

"Huh?" she responded

Eren looked at Petra straight in the eyes, his expression had now changed to sad and his eyes too were tearing up. "I said how the fuck can you love someone like me? I'm a fucking monster!" he raised his voice as he spoke and the tears began to roll down his face like crystal beads.

Petra was shocked and confused but Eren continued, he raised his right arm and threw the bed sheet off of him to reveal his mangled foot and missing arm from the elbow down, steam was being emitted from them as they were beginning to regenerate.

"This isn't normal! How can you be in love with someone like me?" Eren asked as he became more and more upset. "How? I'm not normal, I don't have any pla-" Eren began but Petra intercepted him mid sentence as she leapt onto him

"Shut up you idiot, you are by no means a monster!" she said quietly into his ear, her grasp around his neck and back was tight and she was not letting go. "How can I love you? Because I do, I love you for you no matter what!" she exclaimed.

"You are by no means a monster in any way, you cannot explain this ability you have, do you remember what happened when you transformed?" Petra asked "You saved me, again! You lost that arm to a titan that was about to jump on me, you shielded me with your body giving Hange and the others time to catch up and take it out. I already owed you my life, are you trying to make me owe you another one?" she asked jokingly as she loosened up her grip and knelt next to Eren on the bed, tears on her cheeks and her eyes became redder but she was wearing a smile.

"I did?" Eren asked softly, Petra nodded in response. "I had no clue" Eren continued "but still, you saw me beating the shit out of those titans, that wasn't very human"

"You were doing it to protect us, I'm not scared of you in that form if that's what you're worried about" Petra responded "I found it heroic" she said with appreciation as her smile beamed on Eren's gloomy mood.

"But-" Eren began but Petra put her finger on his lips as signal for him to stop talking

"Don't talk, you don't need to say anything else" Petra said. She removed her finger and leant in and pressed her lips onto Eren's, she shut her eyes and began to lead them in a kiss.

Eren closed his eyes as well.

The two kissed passionately for about 30 seconds before Petra pulled herself away, her hands were either side of Eren for support and her butt was in the air. Eren was smiling now "That was nice, thank you" he said softly.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them made both of their blood run cold and their hearts stop as they stared at each other, scared to look and see who was watching them express their feelings to one another.

Eren moved his eyes to the side to see who was standing there, he couldn't see anything as Petra's head was mostly in the way but he could make out 2 pairs of legs. "Sorry Petra". These words came from Erd who was stood next to an unidentified figure as he moved into Eren's vision.

"Erd?" Petra asked finally turning her head, before even noticing Erd, she saw Section Commander Hange stood by him, her heart dropped into her stomach and she had moved her head so Eren could now see, he too felt a pain in his stomach and chest when he saw who was standing there.

"What are you two doing up at this ungodly hour?" she asked calmly getting no response from Eren nor Petra, their faces whiter than ghosts.

"Did… Did you see?" Petra asked quietly stuttering her words a bit

"Of course I did" Hange replied in the same calm tone of voice as before. "Relax, I've known for a while, or had the feeling at least and being your guys' commanding officer on this mission, Erd couldn't say no to letting me in to confirm my suspicions.".

Eren and Petra said nothing but Petra did climb off of Eren and stand up, her knees were weak from the nerves so it made it difficult to do so. Hange held up her hand as if to tell Petra to stop "You don't have to stop, I was kind of enjoying the show" she joked.

"W-We were planning on ummm, telling Levi once we got back" Petra stuttered to Hange.

"I'm not particularly interested in what you two were doing, I'm more interested in how Eren's regeneration is going" she said excitedly as she moved over to Eren's bedside past Petra and took hold of his stumped arm.

"OW!" Eren cried as Hange grabbed him, Petra saw that Eren was in pain and tried to move forward towards him but Erd grabbed her shoulder before she could do this, she turned her head to look at him with a slightly angry expression but he just simply shook his head to tell her not to do what she was thinking.

"Impressive, the nerves have returned to their respective sensitivity in only a short amount of time" Hange said examining Eren's mauled arm "It appears that your regeneration process is becoming a lot faster and stronger" she said to herself "How intriguing".

"Section Commander, could you please loosen your grip, you're hurting me" Eren said wincing as he tried to pull his arm away. Hange loosened her grip and Eren pulled his arm away back to himself, she then stood up and turned away to walk out the door "I didn't see anything, but if I were you, I'd tell the captain immediately when you return, or I'll have to take matters into my own hands as your commanding officer" and with those words, she left with Erd by her side.

Petra was still white as a ghost but some colour had been restored to Eren as he was processing the situation, she turned back to look at him and the two spent a few seconds looking at each other with blank expressions.

Eren finally broke the silence in the room "That is not how I expected her to find out" he said trying to make a joke about the situation. Petra kind of sighed a breath of relief "We're lucky that the Section Commander is more interested in your recovery process than she is in causing trouble" she said with a stern tone, her colour was now being restored to her as she calmed.

Eren laid his head back and raised his arm in front of his face, Hange had left a faint red hand mark from where she had manhandled him. Petra came and crouched beside his bed "Does it really hurt that much?" she asked caringly to Eren.

Eren turned his head to face Petra and nodded softly "yeah, it does, It's like no pain I've ever felt before" he added quietly. "Why am I like this?" he asked quietly.

"Stop!" Petra said abruptly with a raised voice "Please, stop blaming yourself for this, it is by no means your fault" she reassured Eren calming down a small bit placing her hand gently on his face. "I love you Eren, please do not forget that fact" she said as she closed her eyes and leant in leading them in a kiss, this time, alone.

Another voice interrupted this kiss as well but this time it was distanced and much louder, it was Hange again but she seemed to be barking orders. "Everybody who isn't already awake, wake up! Briefing for today's agenda in ten minutes!". Petra pulled away from Eren, a tiny strand of saliva connected the two, she opened her eyes and smiled at him, with that, the strand broke.

"I love you too Petra, more than anything" Eren replied, he smiled which made Petra happy, she hadn't seen him smile like this in all the time they had been together. Petra stood up beside his bed "I have to go to the briefing, but I'll be back after, i promise" she told Eren and he replied with a nod still holding his smile, he was truly happy in this moment.

Petra leant down to kiss his forehead and then left the room with a spring in her step. Eren laid back staring at the ceiling, he let his arm drop to the side and gave a yawn and soon after his eyelids closed and he fell back asleep.

(Extremely sorry for the massively late upload of this chapter, I was dealing with a few personal issues and couldn't find the time to write the second half of the chapter and get it uploaded. I promise to be much better with uploads from now on, thank you for understanding.)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Eren awoke some time later, his eyes opened slowly as he adjusted to the light beaming in through his window. He lay staring at the ceiling like he did before he fell asleep for a few seconds before a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, you're awake" the voice said, it was a rough voice so it definitely belonged to a male. Eren turned his head to face his right hand side where the voice came from, sat there was one of the surviving members of one of Hange's squads.

Eren was really surprised to see this man sitting next to him but even more surprised it wasn't Hange, Petra or another member of the Levi squad.

"Where-" Eren began but stopped "What time is it? Where are the others?" He simply asked, the man sat there and stayed silent, just staring at Eren.

"Where. Are. They." Eren was becoming increasingly more annoyed at the man as he just stared blankly at him.

"They're on patrol" he replied simply after a while

"Who is?!"

"Everyone but me, I've been tasked to watch over you"

Eren could feel his face drain of all colour, the thought of Petra being out there, after what happened last time with much less members to back them up made him sick to his stomach. His eyes shot a stare to his leg and then his arm, they were both fully recovered besides from a bit of his palm and the sole of his foot.

"What time is it?" Eren asked in the same tone

"4 o'clock" was the reply he received

"When did they leave?"

"This morning around 8"

This made Eren feel even more uncomfortable, he threw the covers off with his bad hand, he felt a slight bit of pain in it but he didn't care. The man just sat and watched as if he was waiting for something as Eren threw his body around and tried to stand up.

As soon as Eren placed his foot on the ground he collapsed in agonising pain letting out a high pitched squeal.

"The skin around your nerves hasn't fully healed yet, if you try to move or put pressure on it then you're going to hurt your-" the man began but he was cut off by Eren

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE, I'M GOING OUT THERE" Eren shouted as he stumbled to his feet and held onto the bed with his good hand.

The man stood up "Eren, please, you're only going to damage yourself more"

"It doesn't matter, I can regenerate again"

"We don't know how you're power works, for all we know, if you shatter the regeneration process, you could be damaged permanently" the man was talking with a plain tone not raising his voice and not speaking with much emotion.

Eren looked into the man's eyes, he was angry, at least he thought he was, if anything he was scared.

"Eren, lay back down, they'll be back soon, they will be completely fine, from what I can tell, you regenerate faster when you're not putting any strain on yourself"

Eren's facial expression loosened up, for some reason, the man's voice was calming him, before long he was back in his bed laying on his back. The man stayed by his side until the sound of a large amount of horses were making their way back into the courtyard.

Standing up to leave, the man turned to Eren and told him to wait where he was. Reluctantly Eren agreed and stayed put where he was. Minutes later Eren could hear the sound of heavy boots stomping up the stone stairs a few meters away from his room and seconds after that, Petra burst through the door to Eren's room.

She seemed to be absolutely over the moon to see him as she leapt onto the bed and on top of Eren, by now his palm and sole of his foot had fully healed.

"Oh lord, Petra!" Eren exclaimed from the shock of being jumped on.

Petra gave a small giggle "Hehe sorry, are you not happy to see me?" she asked pouting at him

"It's not that, in fact I'm really happy to see you're ok" he admitted

Petra's face light up again as she buried it into Eren's shoulder as she hugged him tight, Eren reciprocated and put his arms around his girlfriend and hugged back tight, he closed his eyes and a smile crept onto his face.

"So ummm... How was patrol? If you're ok then I assume it went well?" Eren asked a bit timidly hoping everything went well. Petra sat up a little bit and looked to Eren, the necklace he had given her was hanging loose from her shirt and could be seen by him, she nodded and smiled to him.

"More reinforcements will be arriving either tonight or tomorrow morning to compensate for our heavy loss yesterday, however we are going to have to be staying here for a bit longer than we originally thought" Petra explained to him as she was on her hands and knees on top of him.

Eren was listening intently, he gave Petra a look as if to tell her to explain and carry on.

"Titan activity has increased dramatically and it's our job to make sure they don't head towards the wall. Hange said she was going to come check on you to see if-"

"I'm ready to join the battle again. I'm ready to lay my life down and protect you all" Eren interrupted Petra as a determined expression replaced the happy one of his face.

Petra became flustered and blushed looking at Eren, her smile widened "well, if you're ready to fight, then I'm ready to fight alongside you" she leant in while closing her eyes and pressed her lips up against Eren's (who had also closed his eyes and met her halfway).

The pair passionately kissed for awhile on Eren's bed but then Petra pulled away "I'm going to go and fetch Hange and she can clear up whether you're ready or not to fight" she said as she clambered off of Eren and stood next to him.

Eren nodded and smiled as Petra turned to leave. A few minutes later she returned to his room with Hange by her side, she made a full check on Eren and cleared him, he was ready to fight again.

Afterwards, Hange left and Petra stayed with Eren until dinner. When dinner came around Petra left and brought 2 servings back up to Eren's room where they ate, Eren was sat up waiting for her and they laughed and joked right up until curfew.

Before Petra left, Eren grabbed a hold of her wrist gently "Hey, do you mind if we stay in your room tonight?" he asked, Petra smiled and nodded, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek before leaving to go back to her room.

Eren waited till around the same time that Petra would leave her room before getting up, he was a little wobbly but he managed to get himself changed into his proper night clothes and left his room making his way across the stone hallway to Petra's room.

Once there Eren gave a knock on the door and heard Petra's soft voice telling him to come in. Eren entered and there was a small lit oil lamp on her bedside desk giving off a reserved amount of light, enough for Eren to see that this bedroom was much messier than hers back in the barracks.

Eren saw Petra on the bed, she was laying on top of the covers in her usual night attire but something was missing. As he got closer, Eren realised that Petra was missing her white shorts, all she was wearing was her dress shirt and her underwear underneath which was barely visible in the light.

Eren was almost by the bed but as he took a step, his foot got caught on a piece of clothing on the floor, that accompanied by the fact he couldn't walk properly made him fall forward, he stretched his arms out to break his fall.

Eren felt himself crash onto something but he felt no pain, in fact he landed on something quite soft so he assumed that he landed on the bed, however the thing began to move.

Eren lifted his head to see a blushing and slightly scared Petra staring back at him, Eren had fallen on top of Petra somehow and his head right between her boobs.

"Hehe. Sorry" Eren smiled and spoke nervously, Petra's facial expression relaxed from scared to caring as she gave a small embarrassed smile.

Eren immediately clambered off and laid himself next to Petra sitting up in the bed and on top of the covers almost mimicking how Petra was sat. Eren looked to Petra beside him and smiled at her gently to which he received an equally loving expression back.

The oil lamp lit the room in such a way that as Petra was looking at Eren, only half of her face was illuminated. Lost in each other's gaze, they continued to smile goofily at each other until Petra broke the silence. "Hey" she whispered gently.

Eren continued to smile at his love "hey" he said back.

The two continued to stare intently in almost complete silence before Petra again broke it with a creak of the wooden bed as she leant in to kiss Eren.

Eren accepted and met her halfway before engaging in one of their make out sessions. The kissing only lasted for a little bit before Petra pulled away, looking shy and blushing like a tomato, she looked like she wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked caringly as they sat close to each other with their bodies twisted and almost colliding,

"Ummm" Petra began as she went impossibly red "it's ummm…" she tried to continue but went silent and just stared blankly at Eren still blushing.

"Hey, it's alright. You can tell me in your own time" Eren said caringly and understandingly as he put his arms around Petra and pulled her close.

When Eren did this she too put her arms over him and their bodies collided, it didn't take Eren long to realise that she was not wearing a bra, his eyes widened as his head rested on her shoulder.

"I think I'm ready to go further in our relationship" Petra whispered nervously into Eren's right ear. Eren leant back to look at his girlfriend who was still bright red.

Eren was taken back a bit as he retreated from the hug. "Really?" he asked a bit nervously, the reply he received was a small nod and flustered smile from Petra.

"What do you… Umm, what do you mean. Like?" Eren began to say but was interrupted by Petra leaning quickly forward pressing her lips into his, her eyes closed yet Eren's remained open for a few seconds before gently closing as he slowly got into the kiss.

Petra pulled away "I mean, I love you and I am ready to take us to the next stage" she whispered with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Eren blushed and gulped as he didn't know what to expect, yet his heart was racing at the possibilities and intensity of the situation.

"I love you too, and I'm ready to start the next chapter with you" Eren replied in a soft and calming whisper, these words brought a wide smile to Petra's still blushing face.

"I'm glad" was her gentle reply.


	9. Apology

I sincerely apologise. it has been 8 months since my last upload. my absence has been due to starting a new job and having a lot of stuff to do with my already minimal time. note that I will be keeping my promise from now on and will start to be uploading chapters more frequently, it will try to be once a month but that schedule could change. thank you for your patience


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The room was silent aside the sounds of the burning oil from the old lamp and the couple's soft and quiet breathing. Their gazes illuminating each other's facial expressions. Eren leaned in gently but instead of just kissing, he raised his right hand gently and placed in on Petra's left shoulder. He gently pushed her onto her back as he rolled on top supported by his hands and knees either side of Petra's.

Petra was trapped in the kiss but she signalled for Eren not to stop by wrapping her arms around the nape of his neck and keeping him held there. She squirmed beneath him slightly trying to make herself comfortable, shortly after she loosened her grip on his neck and Eren was able to pull away.

"I've had my eyes on you ever since your trial. I knew Commander Erwin wouldn't fail to sway the court's mind to allow you into the Survey Corps" Petra admitted gently staring cutely up at him.

Eren smiled back "I had no clue, but I'm so glad that we are here"

"Oh stop with the mushy crap" Petra replied seriously

"What?! You started it!" Eren said surprised in a slightly raised voice

Petra giggled playfully as she traced his jawline with her finger "I'm kidding, learn to loosen up a little bit" she whispered looking deep into his eyes and playfully biting her lip as Eren noticed her eyes darting from his to his body for a moment then back to his gaze.

Petra continued to trace his jawline back and forth as they exchanged loving glares. Eren then noticed that the top two buttons of Petra's night shirt were undone and he could see the start of her cleavage. He went bright red upon seeing this and heard his girlfriend's voice whisper "you like what you see? I did that for you. Don't be shy, you can open it up".

Eren looked back to Petra and saw she had gone just as red as him. He used one hand to balance himself as he used his other hand to slowly undo the buttons on her shirt.

One by one they popped away from each other and when Eren was finished the lines of her shirt rested atop her breasts hiding her nipples. They were perky yet gave a little sag, looking to be a B, possibly C cup. Petra raised her hand and placed it on Eren's cheek, it was soft, warm and gave a soothing feeling to Eren.

Eren pulled back her top to the sides revealing her pink nipples, matching her blushing face. He took a glance back to Petra who was staring up at him still with her hand on his cheek, it ran down his face and down his side to the bottom of his top where she placed her other hand dragging it up his body slowly.

Petra removed Eren's top exposing his toned upper body and he did the same to her, they were tossed aside and onto the messy floor. "You're right, i do like what i see" Eren said quietly

"I'm so happy. I love you Eren"

"I love you too Petra"

The two exchanged a long passionate kiss as their bodies collided together. A few minutes later Eren pulled back "So umm, how far do you want to go?" he asked nervously

Petra sighed and gave a small caring smile "I'm sorry but i think this is as far as we can go tonight, I'm still not totally ready to go all the way" she said hoping Eren wouldn't be too mad.

After a short pause Eren gave a little nod "Of course, but maybe, we could sleep like this tonight?" he asked quietly still looming over Petra

"Of course, I'd like that" was the reply he received.

The pair cuddled up under the sheets the way they were, as the night went on the oil lamp slowly burnt out as they fell asleep in each others arms and left the room in complete darkness and silence enveloped them.

Morning came around sooner than both would have hoped and shortly after the sun had risen it was beaming through the cream coloured curtains. Eren began to stir in the early morning light, he was holding onto Petra in a loving embrace underneath the sheets. He opened his eyes to see a mass of light brown as his face was buried deep in Petra's hair.

Eren closed his eyes again and breathed softly in and out of his nose. Petra's hair smelt faintly of strawberries, this was nice for Eren as it reminded him of his home district of Shiganshina and how rarely he ever got the whiff of a batch, let alone get to taste them.

Whilst laying there Eren shuffled himself which caused Petra to stir, she woke and opened her eyes turning her head to face him "Uh… Morning" she said in a quiet and tired tone

"I'm sorry sweetie. I didn't mean to wake you" Eren replied in a caring whisper

"It's ok" Petra gave a yawn and covered her mouth "We need to be getting up anyway" she added sitting up and pulling the covers up with her to keep her chest hidden but left Eren's upper body open as the cold air of the room hit him

Petra stood up keeping her back to Eren as she reached for a bra and put it on, then reached for her uniform shirt and put that on too. Eren clambered out of bed still in his bottoms and walked up behind Petra placing her arms around her waist as she did her shirt up bottom to top.

"I'm going to go back to my room and get changed. I'll see you down in the mess hall?" Eren asked pulling Petra close to him

"Yeah, I'll see you down there" Petra replied as she turned her head and craned her neck to give him a soft kiss on the lips.

Eren left and headed back to his room where he got changed. He arrived downstairs where they had their briefing, this system went on for 2 more weeks before the soldiers could move back to the district. Upon leaving they had significantly reduced titan activity heading towards the wall meaning it was a lot safer to do reconnaissance missions for the near future.

Once back to the barracks on their last day it was about 9 PM on arrival, by the time they had cleaned up and had their dinner and gotten back to their rooms it was gone 10. Eren got in and slumped on his bed but not moments later there was a soft knock at his door.

Excited, Eren leapt from his bed and rushed to open the door to greet his visitor who he assumed to be Petra. Upon opening his door, that thought was shattered as Levi stood the other side.

"Good evening Eren" Levi said in his cold tone he always bore, Eren gulped as hundreds of thoughts ran throughout his head

"Good umm, good evening captain" was Eren's staggered reply

"May i take a step inside?" the captain asked

"Of course" Eren replied reluctantly

Levi took a few steps into Eren's bedroom and closed the door then turned back to him. "Section Commander Hange has relayed some information back to me about your recent mission".

As Eren heard this his heart stopped. "I have then passed this information on to Commander Erwin and he would like to have a chat with you and another member of the squad" Levi turned and opened the door, but held it open as if he was waiting for Eren to follow him.

"Now?" Eren asked nervously

"Yes" was Levi's callous reply

Eren gulped hard and followed Levi.

Levi took him to the bottom of the building where they headed in the opposite direction of the mess hall. Moving through the winding corridors they got to a large wooden door with no windows on it. Levi pushed it open and the room was revealed to be a stone meeting hall with a large table in the middle and a very high ceiling. A chandelier hung from it and torches mounted the walls.

Upon inspection of the people inside, Eren saw that Erwin was sat at the head of the table and Hange was sat in the seat next to him. At the end of the table was sat a young woman in Survey Corps uniform, her back to him but as she turned her head, Eren saw it was Petra.

"Don't be shy Eren. come in and make yourself comfortable. We have a lot to talk about" Erwin's voice echoed off the walls. The colour drained from Eren's face as he took another gulp and reluctantly walked into the room.


End file.
